Even though I am trained as a political scientist, I have also created groups and initiatives in support of students, staff, and faculty of color, and served in leadership roles to promote diversity and inclusion at different types of learning institutions and within my profession. I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can help students from underrepresented groups thrive in college and in their careers, so I hope to share posts here about concrete ways in which we can promote inclusion and empowerment for our students in and out of the classroom. I created this blog so that my voice and experiences, as well as those of other faculty and students of color, could be included in wider debates about the future of higher education. Often, our labor and ideas are not valued and recognized, which is why I want to use this space to honor and celebrate the work of educators who do the daily and invisible work of caring for our students and fellow colleagues. As a woman and woman of color, immigrant, first-gen, and former ESL and Pell grant student, who grew up in Jamaica, Queens, went to high school in the Bronx, and then earned a BA and PhD at UCLA, I navigate and experience academia differently and have found that through writing and sharing our experiences, we can build community and sustain our efforts to realize our individual and collective goals to do our best for our students. There are many blindspots about mentoring, "colorblindness", and merit-based advancement in academia so I would like to address those barriers to advancement for women of color in particular.

I will also post perspectives on politics, especially gender politics, and thoughts on a book project on women, war, and memory.

(I teach a 4/4 teaching load at UB and advise two majors, so please don’t expect too many posts).